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Families of Mexico's disappeared challenge World Cup security cordon
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Sports

Families of Mexico's disappeared challenge World Cup security cordon

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Families of Mexico's missing persons attempted to reach the Estadio Azteca on the eve of the World Cup 2026 inauguration to raise awareness.
  • A heavy police operation prevented protesters from reaching the stadium, forcing them to hold a memorial event behind security barriers.
  • Demonstrators, including mothers of the disappeared, used World Cup-themed items to highlight the crisis, contrasting the tournament's investment with the lack of resources for searches.

On the eve of the 2026 World Cup 2026 inauguration, thousands of protesters were contained by a significant police presence as they attempted to march towards Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. The demonstrators, primarily families of the country's more than 133,000 missing persons, sought to draw global attention to the crisis during the tournament's opening.

We want the world to know that we have many missing people and resources are invested in other things, and the cases of our missing people (...) are not resolved.

— Ana Lucía GascaMother of a disappeared person, speaking about the crisis.

Security forces deployed around the stadium blocked the protesters' advance, forcing them to conduct a memorial event behind security fences. Despite the obstruction, their demands were heard during a peaceful march along Calzada de Tlalpan. Chants like "Mexico champion in disappearances" and "Because they took them alive, we want them alive" echoed through the streets. Families from various states carried World Cup-themed items, including Mexican team jerseys featuring the faces of their missing loved ones, and FIFA trophy replicas.

"We want the world to know that we have many missing people and resources are invested in other things, and the cases of our missing people (...) are not resolved," said Ana Lucía Gasca, mother of Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca, who disappeared in 2023. Tranquilina Hernández, whose daughter Mireya Montiel Hernández vanished in 2014, echoed this sentiment, criticizing the allocation of funds. "They can't cover the sun with a finger by bringing a World Cup when there is no budget for the searches of our loved ones," she stated.

They can't cover the sun with a finger by bringing a World Cup when there is no budget for the searches of our loved ones.

— Tranquilina HernándezMother of a disappeared person, criticizing resource allocation.

Government officials, including Mexico City's Secretary of Government Cesar Cravioto, attempted to dialogue with the families to halt their progress toward the stadium. However, protester Jaqueline Palmeros declared, "Today the State shows us that it does have the police to find the disappeared, but it chooses to protect foreigners." Some protesters attempted to breach the police lines, chanting "Repressive state" among other grievances, before settling for a vigil outside the stadium's gates.

Today the State shows us that it does have the police to find the disappeared, but it chooses to protect foreigners.

— Jaqueline PalmerosProtester commenting on the police presence during the demonstration.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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